Site: Clinton, S.C. (Templeton Center)
Score: High Point 75, Presbyterian 52
Records: HPU 12-4 (10-1 Big South), PC 6-7 (5-6 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Saturday, January 23, 2021 -- at Presbyterian (Clinton, S.C.) 4 p.m.
 
CLINTON, S.C. -- History was made Friday evening (Jan. 22) in the Templeton Center as the High Point University women's basketball team won its 10th consecutive game with a 75-52 victory over Presbyterian College to set a new Division I program record for consecutive wins.
 
The last time the Panthers strung together double-digit wins was when the team won 13 straight to finish out the 1997-98 season, two years before joining Division I. High Point's 10-game winning streak currently checks in as tied for the ninth-longest streak in all of Division I women's basketball and HPU is just the seventh team in D1 to reach 12 wins on the season.
 
"We're happy to get a road win. Those aren't ever easy to come by in conference play," head coach Chelsea Banbury said after the record-setting win. "It's always important when you can go on the road and get a win. We made some mistakes early and didn't see some of our advantages but we made some adjustments at halftime, found the open teammate, and had 21 assists in the game. That's sharing the ball and throwing that extra pass and I'm really proud of how we played together. Sky [Curan] was huge for us in the first half. She came out ready to shoot and made some tough shots. She got us that lead to start and everybody picked it up from there."
 
Indeed it was junior Skyler Curran leading the way offensively for the Purple and White, scoring 25 points for her third straight game with at least 20. She entered the day with 971 points in a High Point uniform, leaving her four points away from becoming the 14th Panther in the Division I era of HPU hoops to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
 
High Point spread the ball around exceptionally well in the game, combining for 21 assists, the second-most on the season. The Panthers' two main facilitators led the way in helpers, with Jordan Edwards and Jenson Edwards combining for 13 of the 21 assists. Jordan dished out eight assists to go along with nine points while Jenson was second in scoring with 19 points and added five helpers. The Edwards duo are two of the best at sharing the ball not only in the Big South but also the country - entering the game both ranked in the top-25 in all of Division I in total assists this season.
 
"We talked a lot about ball speed, having good catches, and if you're open - calling for the ball, and we did a good job of that," Banbury had to say of her team's passing display. "Jenson and Jordan are always good passers for us so it's really no surprise they put up those numbers."
 
The Panthers' deft passing led to a lot of open looks from deep, with HPU finishing the day 19-47 from three-point land. The 19 makes are the second-most triples in a single game in program history and the most in the 2020-21 campaign, while the 47 attempts are the most the Purple and White have thrown up from beyond the arc in a game. Curran and Jenson Edwards each did the majority of their damage from deep with five triples apiece while sophomore Callie Scheier and Jordan Edwards each added three.
 
Curran came out firing on all cylinders in the first, scoring 11 of High Point's 14 points in the opening quarter. Presbyterian scored the first four points of the game but a three from Jenson Edwards and five points from Curran gave the Panthers an 8-6 lead four minutes in and the Purple and White never looked back.
 
Curran knocked down her second three-pointer of the game a minute later and then hit her third with three minutes left in the quarter. The Panthers' defense did a great job locking down the floor in the first, holding PC without a field goal for the final seven minutes of the quarter. The Blue Hose only mustered four free throws in that stretch, giving High Point a 14-6 lead after one.
 
Scheier connected from behind the arc in the opening minute of the second quarter to start the scoring, but HPU went cold for almost five minutes before Jordan Edwards hit from downtown after a Claire Wyatt offensive rebound. Presbyterian didn't have much more success during High Point's scoreless stretch, but hit a layup right after Scheier's three and then drilled a triple on the possession before Edwards' to make it a two-point game, 17-15.
 
Edwards' three made it a five-point game and Jenson Edwards got inside with a nice hesitation to push the lead up to six after a PC free throw. Presbyterian made it a two-point game again but the Panthers got hot late in the half, going on an 11-2 run to enter the locker room with a 33-22 lead.
 
Curran knocked down a pair of shots from the stripe and then hit her fourth three-pointer of the night after the Blue Hose made it a two-point game again. PC looked like it was going to make it a one-possession game again but Courtney Meadows hustled back to disrupt a fastbreak and then was rewarded for her effort with a three on the other end to give the Panthers an eight-point lead. Curran had a chance to make it a double-digit lead with six seconds left in the half but her three-pointer was a little too strong. Fortunately, the ball bounced off the back iron and came right back out to Curran and she didn't miss the second time, drilling her fifth deep ball of the game to give her 19 points in the first half.
 
High Point didn't lay off the gas in the third quarter, outscoring Presbyterian 24-8 in the 10 minutes to take a 27-point lead into the fourth. PC scored the first two points of the half but the Panthers responded with three consecutive makes from behind the arc from three different players, with Cydney Johnson, Wyatt, and Jenson Edwards each dropping one in to force the Blue Hose to call a timeout.
 
The lead grew to 20 for the first time when Jenson hit another three-pointer and the lead hovered around the 20-point mark until HPU closed out the quarter on a 10-0 run to take a 27-point lead into the fourth. Jenson found her way to the paint for two and then drilled her fourth three of the day on the next possession. Curran drove the lane for two more and Scheier dropped one in from deep with a minute left to make it 57-30 after three quarters of play. Once again High Point's defense was a key cog in the run, allowing just one Blue Hose shot in the final five minutes of the quarter.
 
Presbyterian outscored the Panthers in the fourth quarter but not by much, as a late surge by the HPU offense secured the win by 23 points, the second-largest margin of victory for the Purple and White this season. PC held High Point to just five points in the first five minutes of the quarter, cutting the Panthers' lead down to 17 at 62-45. HPU's defense was up to the challenge yet again and held the Blue Hose to just two makes in the final five minutes of action.
 
Johnson scored in the lane at the five-minute mark, followed by three straight three-pointers from Panthers named Edwards, with Jenson hitting the first (on an assist from Jordan) and Jordan getting the next two (with the latter coming courtesy of Jenson) to run the lead back up to 26. Meadows fought inside for her second, and the team's final, bucket of the day with two minutes left and the defense only gave up a free throw after that point to come away with the 75-52 victory.
 
The Panthers will look to set another streak-related record tomorrow (Jan. 23) at 4 p.m. in the series finale with Presbyterian as a win would make it nine straight Big South wins away from home dating back to last season, something HPU has never done since joining the conference and Division I in 1999.